Asked, “Is there any situation in which you would run for president as an independent?” Huntsman told The Boston Globe, “I don’t think so.”

Told that anything but a flat denial could perpetuate speculation about the possibility, Huntsman replied: “I’m a lifelong Republican. I’m running as a Republican, and I fully anticipate that that’s where we’re going to be.”

Huntsman would in many respects be a natural fit with a centrist third-party group like Americans Elect, which is trying to get ballot access in all 50 states for a middle-of-the-road independent candidate. But this kind of wiggle-room answer probably won’t help while he’s still running in a GOP primary.